Psychology B.S. with a Specialization in Developmental Psychology (PSYC-BS-004; PC30)
Did you enroll at the University during or after Fall 2026? These major requirements do not apply to you. Please find your major requirements in our Majors Effective Fall 2026.
Developmental Psychology entails all aspects of human development with emphasis on social and personality development, perceptual development, and language acquisition. This specialization also includes the study of developmental psychopathology.
Major Requirements
- All courses taken for the major must be letter graded completed with a D or better. Exceptions for PSYC-099, PSYC-195P, PSYC-199, and AIP-197 which are only offered on a P/NP grading option and major lower-division natural science, formal skills, and computer programming.
- A course may only fulfill one major course requirement.
- Excluded from credit towards the major are graduate seminars (-2XX).
- A maximum of three upper-division (UD) courses toward the major may be taken outside of UC San Diego.
- A grade-point average of at least 2.0 in the upper-division (UD) major courses is required for graduation.
Lower-Division (LD) Requirements (32 units)
Experimental psychology uses scientific tools and concepts: knowledge of formal systems such as logic or calculus, probability theory, computer science, chemistry, biology, physics, and statistics. Accordingly, students in upper-division (UD) courses must have an adequate background in these topics.
Lower-division (LD) courses for the major should be completed by the end of the sophomore year. These requirements will guarantee an adequate background for the topics of the upper-division (UD) psychology courses.
3 Natural Science Courses (choose three of the following)
- BILD-001, BILD-002, BILD-003, BILD-010, BILD-012**, BILD-020, BILD-026 (BILD-022 is NOT accepted)
- CHEM-004*, CHEM-006A, CHEM-006B, CHEM-006C, CHEM-011*, CHEM-012, CHEM-013
- COGS-017**
- PHYS-001A, PHYS-001B, PHYS-001C, PHYS-002A, PHYS-002B, PHYS-002C, PHYS-010, PHYS-011
- PSYC-002**
*Only one of CHEM-004 or CHEM-011 can be taken for credit.
**Only one of BILD-012, COGS-017, or PSYC-002 may be counted towards this requirement.
3 Formal Skills Courses
- PSYC-070 (preferred) or COGS-014A
- MATH-010A or MATH-020A
- MATH-010B or MATH-020B
1 Computer Programming Course (choose one of the following)
- CSE-006R, CSE-008A, CSE-011, CSE-012
- COGS-018*
- CSS-001*
- ECE-015*
- MAE-005, MAE-008*
- BILD-062^
*Students who plan to pursue research careers in Psychology or related fields will find these courses critical to their success.
^Students who take BILD-062 need to send a VAC message to Psych Advising to apply it to their degree audit.
1 Statistics Course (choose one of the following) - Statistics must be taken for a letter grade.
- PSYC-060 (preferred)
- BENG-100
- BIEB-100
- COGS-014B
- ECON-120A
- MATH-011, MATH-181A, MATH-183, MATH-186
Research Requirements (8 units, 2 courses)
2 Research Courses (choose two of the following courses)
Students may complete the required 8 units of research for the major using any combination of courses below:
- PSYC-071^
- PSYC-081^
- PSYC-112^
- PSYC-113^
- PSYC-114^
- PSYC-118^
- PSYC-193L^
- PSYC-115A and PSYC-115B Laboratory in Cognitive Psychology Series*
- PSYC-116A, PSYC-116B, PSYC-116C Laboratory in Clinical Psychology Research Series*
- PSYC-194A, PSYC-194B, PSYC-194C Honors Program Series*
- PSYC-099** (Independent Research)
- PSYC-199** (Independent Research)
B.S. Research Paper (may be titled "Research Experience")
^ Students who use at least one of the research lab courses from the list above do not have to submit a B.S. Research paper to the Psychology Advising Office.
* Students must complete the full sequence within a designated research lab series to fulfill the B.S. Research Paper requirement.
** Students who satisfy their research requirement using 8 units of PSYC-099 or PSYC-199 credit only are required to submit a B.S. Research Paper to the Psychology Advising Office to fully satisfy their B.S. major requirements. Students can learn more about the B.S. Research Paper guidelines by visiting the Psychology B.S. Research Paper Guidelines site.
The B.S. Research Paper section on your Degree Audit must be manually cleared by a Psychology advisor; therefore, even if you are not required to write a B.S. Research paper, this section will not be marked complete until after one of the advisors reviews and approves your Degree and Diploma Application (DDA).
Upper-Division (UD) Requirements (48 units)
1 PSYC Core Specialization Course
- PSYC-101
3 Additional PSYC Core Courses (choose three of the following)
- PSYC-100, PSYC-102, PSYC-104, PSYC-105, PSYC-106, PSYC-108
3 PSYC Specialization Courses (choose three of the following)
- PSYC-136, PSYC-146, PSYC-147, PSYC-156, PSYC-158, PSYC-167*, PSYC-168, PSYC-172, PSYC-180, PSYC-187, PSYC-190
5 PSYC Elective Courses (choose five of the following)
- PSYC-100 through PSYC-193
- Note: Research courses are not approved to count as UD Psych Elective courses: PSYC-071, PSYC-081, PSYC-099, PSYC-112, PSYC-113, PSYC-114, PSYC-115, PSYC-117, PSYC-118, PSYC-193L, PSYC-194, PSYC-196, PSYC-199
*Please send the Psychology Advising Office a Virtual Advising Center (VAC) message once a final grade has been posted for the course to apply an exception to your degree audit for the following items:
- Starred (*) courses under the Developmental Specialization area is approved for the Developmental Psych BS major.
- Students are allowed to use one 4-unit PSYC-195 toward the upper-division (UD) PSYC Elective requirement.
- Students may use one 4-unit AIP-197 toward the Upper-Division (UD) Psychology Elective requirement. Pre-approval from the Psychology Advising Office is required to count the course toward the Psychology Major.
-Graduate courses (-2XX) are not generally accepted for credit toward the major, but petitions for exceptions will be considered.
